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General

Public surveys work on the same principle as other CRM system surveys, but they allow publishing a survey link publicly and collecting responses from people who are not already contacts in the system.

The settings can be found on the Self-Service Portal settings page and are managed by system administrators. If the portal is not active, please contact support to explore the options. Once the public survey settings have been configured, public surveys can be enabled through the survey module.

Public surveys can be used, for example, to create:

• Feedback forms shared on websites
• Newsletter subscription forms
• Campaign surveys through which contacts are automatically created in the system

Quick Guide for Administrators

1. Open the Self-Service Portal settings and ensure that the Public Survey feature is activated.
2. Go to the survey module and create a new survey.
3. Enable the Public Survey option and define the matching field (e.g., email).
4. Set the visibility condition for public surveys in the Self-Service Portal settings, for example: cf_public_survey = "1".
5. If desired, you can create a custom field named cf_public_survey to make managing visibility easier.
6. Instruct users to:
   • Use the Disable contact update setting for sensitive or critical data.
   • Allow updates only when the survey is intentionally designed to update contact details, such as newsletter subscriptions.
7. Publish the survey through the Self-Service Portal.

Recommendation: Use the custom field named cf_public_survey for managing visibility—it provides a clear and easily maintainable way to mark public surveys.

Administrator Responsibilities and Use Cases

A public survey should only be enabled when you want to allow responses without personal invitations or authentication. Since responses can come from various sources and even multiple times from the same person, the administrator must carefully define the matching and data update practices before publishing the survey.

• The matching field determines which contact’s information the system will update based on the responses.
• The Disable contact update option is located in the survey-specific settings and should be clearly explained to users.
• It is recommended to use a custom field to indicate which surveys are public.

Matching Field

The matching field is the field the system uses to identify whether a response is linked to an existing contact.

• If the field is set to email, the system updates the oldest contact with the same email address.
• If the respondent is not found, the system will create a new contact based on the given email address.
• The field can also be defined based on other unique identifiers, such as a customer number.

From a data protection perspective, it is recommended that sensitive personal data not be updated through public surveys unless there is a clear purpose and explicit consent from the respondent.

Visibility of Public Surveys

Public surveys are defined in the Self-Service Portal settings with a visibility condition, for example:
public_survey = "1"

This condition checks whether, for example, the cf_public_survey field is marked as active.
The visibility condition can also include multiple criteria, such as cf_public_survey = "1" AND active = "1".

Recommendation: Use a simple field cf_public_survey with the display name “Public Survey.” Using such fields reduces the risk of accidental publication and simplifies management.

Disable Contact Update (User Setting)

Users can enable the “Disable contact update” option on individual survey questions to prevent automatic updates to contact information based on responses.

• Responses are saved to the survey and visible under the Responses tab.
• The information in the contact record fields is not updated based on the provided response.

Recommendation: Keep this option enabled if the survey question collects general feedback or anonymous responses. Disable it only if the question is intended to update specific contact details.

Sharing a Public Link

The link to a public survey can be published through the Self-Service Portal when the portal is active in your organization. The link can be shared on websites, in emails, or on social media.

The public survey link has the following format:
https://<organization_portal_address>/public/surveys/<survey_ID>

Custom Field for Managing Public Visibility

It is recommended to create a custom checkbox field, for example named public_survey.
This field:

• Clearly indicates which surveys are public
• Facilitates communication between administrators and users
• Helps prevent accidental publication of internal surveys

Data Protection and Responsible Data Collection

As a CRM-service customer, you are responsible for your data and how it is handled. The collection and storage of personal data must comply with the GDPR regulation.

• Add a checkbox to the survey where the respondent can consent to data storage and processing.
• Add a link to your organization’s privacy policy within the survey.
• Make the checkbox mandatory if the form collects personal data.
• Ensure that the survey does not collect unnecessary data.